The accountancy firm that audits the Scottish National party’s accounts has resigned, adding to the party’s crisis following the police raid on the home of its former chief executive Peter Murrell.
Murrell was arrested on Wednesday morning by police investigating the SNP’s finances. He was later released without charge pending further inquiries.
The BBC, which first reported Johnston Carmichael’s resignation, said it had been told the firm resigned before Murrell’s arrest.
The resignation is likely to add to the SNP’s mounting problems with its governance and finances. It is already trying to recruit a new chief executive after Murrell suddenly resigned in March over a row about party membership numbers.
The SNP is legally required to submit fully audited accounts to the Electoral Commission by 7 July or face large fines; it is now in a race to find another firm of auditors willing to take the task on in time to meet that deadline.
The SNP said it had begun trying to find new auditors. On Thursday Humza Yousaf, the new party leader, attacked the quality of the SNP’s governance, transparency and its financial accountability in a briefing to the press.
The party said Johnston Carmichael had told it: “We have taken the decision to resign following a review of our client portfolio and existing resources and commitments.” But the SNP did not say when it was told.
“We can confirm that Johnston Carmichael will not be providing audit services to the SNP this year,” a party spokesperson said. “The [party’s] national treasurer is undertaking a tendering process for alternative provision, and we have advised the Electoral Commission of that position.”
The party’s finances, and in particular its handling of more than £600,000 in donations given ostensibly to fight for a fresh independence referendum, have been under police investigation for more than two years.
The party’s accounts in recent years have shown there is no separate pot holding that money; its accounts instead show debts, deficits and much smaller sums held in cash.
Sturgeon had repeatedly denied the money had gone missing. “Money hasn’t gone missing; all money goes through the SNP accounts independently all fully audited,” she said in 2021.
“We don’t hold separate accounts – we’re under no legal requirement to do that. Our accounts are managed on a cashflow basis, but every penny we raise to support the campaign for independence will be spent on the campaign for independence.”
Scottish Labour’s deputy leader, Jackie Baillie, said the auditors’ resignation raised “serious questions” about the SNP’s financial affairs. “Sunlight is the best disinfectant – we need transparency and openness from the SNP now,” she said.
